Mezzes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A style of serving small dishes, often in shared plates for multiple diners to enjoy
2. a selection of appetizers or snacks commonly associated with Mediterranean cuisine
3. a culinary practice that emphasizes variety through numerous bite-sized portions offered at social gatherings

Etymology: "Mezzes" is the plural of "mezze", a word borrowed into English from Turkish and Arabic, where it names an array of small savoury dishes served together as appetisers or as a meal in themselves. The plural follows the English habit of adding "s" to a noun, so readers meeting it in a restaurant menu are looking at a word that has been carried across languages in its plural form as well as its singular. The Turkish and Arabic forms share a root connected to the idea of taste and enjoyment, which fits the sense of food meant to be picked at slowly and shared around a table. Because the dishes arrive in small portions for everyone to sample, the word came to name the whole style of eating rather than any single plate.